These are all original paintings for various paperback books and detective magazines. These were painted specifically for the intended book or article, but show up occaisionally on totally different stories. They were considered simple commercial art and were destroyed after printing – what a crime.

Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (September 23, 1917 – February 5, 1984), more widely known as El Santo (the Saint) is one of the most famous and iconic of all Mexican luchadores, and has been referred to as one of “the greatest legends in Mexican sports” His wrestling career spanned nearly fifty years, during which he became a folk hero and a symbol of justice for the common man through his appearances in comic books and movies. He is said to have popularized professional wrestling in Mexico. In 1952 a Santo comic book was created, turning him into the first and foremost character in Mexican popular literature. The Santo comic book series (four different volumes) ran continuously for 35 years, ending in 1987. Santo would go on to star in 52 films all of which had him battling super-human villians. Santo never took of his mask in public until his final TV appearance in 1984, 2 weeks before his death, effectively saying goodbye to his fans.

The Kinks struggled hard for their place in Rock music history. Coming up at the same time as The Beatles and The Stones they had neither the bad-boy swagger of the later or the good lucks and pop talent of the former. Plus they hated each other. Comprised of 2 brothers, Ray & Dave Davies, along with original drummer Mick Avery and bassist Pete Quaife, they all fought constantly. In an onstage fight at a 1966 show in Cardiff, Wales, Dave kicked Mick’s drums in frustration so Mick bashed him in the head with his cymbal stand, knocking him unconscious. Fearing he’d killed his lead guitarist he fled the stage (To placate the police, Avory later claimed that it was part of a new act in which the band members would hurl their instruments at each other). The brothers would often fight onstage and just as they were about to break America, they were banned for 4 years from performing because of their rowdy behaviour – one particular fight at an American radio station sealed the ban. They did manage however to write a ton of huge hits, “You Really Got Me”, “All Day & All of the Night”, “Lola”, “Set Me Free” as well as the best song ever written (arguably) “Waterloo Sunset”. It wouldn’t be until the 80’s that they would finally really break big in America with their hit “Come Dancing”. If you’re new to The Kinks – ignore this period – it’s awful. 1965 -68 were the salad years.

1972 -73 are the years that Bowie arguably had his biggest impact. He had a hit in 1969 with ‘Space Oddity’ and 1970’s LP Hunky Dory did OK but Bowie was still the long haired fey looking hippie. 1972 saw the release of his new alter-ego Ziggy Stardust and it’s backing band – The Spiders From Mars. Overnight Bowie went from looking like everyone else, too looking like an alien. In the words of biographer David Buckley, Bowie “challenged the core belief of the rock music of its day” and “created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture”. Bowie would take his persona one step further in 1973 with the release of ‘Alladin Sane’ – that with the thunderbolt makeup – and would tour the world on the back of the hits ‘Starman’, ‘The Jean Genie’, and ‘Drive-In Saturday’. 26 years old, lookin’ good and ready to rule the world.

I know it’s winter somewhere – because it sure isn’t where I live (Seattle). I guess Rome is getting all the snow this year (first snowfall in 30 years or something). Apparently in the 30’s and 40’s there was always snow and cool places to ski – St. Moritz, all of Norway, all of Austria, Canada even. These posters are all beautiful. Beautifully designed, beautifully illustrated and beautifully printed. I love the idea of suggestion – Mts., skis and a whole country to go to – that’s all you need. The last poster here even has the destination in such small type I had to look twice to see it, simply suggesting the idea of snow and fun.